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| 1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, |
It came to pass – It might safely be estimated at about 1000 years after Adam's creation. SM193:2
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| 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. |
The sons of God – Materialized angels. OV17:3; SM97:2; R4880:1, R4976:1, R5706:3
Some of the angels to whom was committed the supervision of mankind prior to the flood. R2171:3
They were permitted to see what they could do for the uplift of humanity; or, rather, to demonstrate that the downward tendency of sin is incurable except in the manner which God has already arranged. R5043:2
While angels are sons of God they were not directly begotten by God but were created by our Lord Jesus. Q19:2
That they were fair – Jude 6 & 7 clearly shows the nature of the sin of these angels when, after mentioning them, it says: "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah ... in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh." HG724:6
And they – Being largely seduced by the evil of mankind. R5429:5; R1680:4
Probably at the instigation of Satan, who thus planned to outwit the Almighty and create a race that would live forever. R5429:5, R1686:5
Took them wives – In violation of the divine arrangement for them; apparently without consulting anyone. OV249:2; R4880:2, R5115:6; SM193:2; OV299:6
Thus they became the fathers of a new race, distinct from Adam's. PD15/24
For the purpose of attempting to uplift mankind. HG512:2
The result of the angels' loss of faith in God's wisdom and power. R5115:6
It is reasonable to think that when the fallen angels regain power they will use it in an immoral manner. SM118:2
But marriage between men and women is not in any scripture suggested as displeasing to God. (Heb. 13:4). S104
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| 3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. |
Yet his days – His age limit, as illustrated by Moses' life. D604
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| 4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. |
There were giants – The children of this combination of angelic vitality grafted upon the human stock were a race of giants. PD15/24; OV299:7; R4880:2, R4976:1, R5043:3
Physical and mental giants; brutish, sensual tyrants. R4797:2; PD15/24; OV300:T, SM62:3, SM64:1; R5160:1
They possessed greater virility than Adam's race. OV17:5
They had no right to existence, since they were born contrary to divine will, or law. SM64:1
Nephilim, fallen ones, unrecognized by God, destroyed in mercy to Adam's race. E104
They were in no sense of the word Adamic stock; hence, in no sense of the word covered by the ransom. R3341:6
This new race consisted exclusively of males, propagated through the human female. SM62:2
Typifying the trusts, the children of professed Christian governments, which today have the whole world in their grasp. R3935:2, R4797:2, R5457:3
Sons of God – It was approximately during the 655 years preceding the flood that the angelic sons of God took to themselves wives. SM193:2
Their illicit progeny was blotted out with the flood and they themselves were afterward restrained from the liberty of assuming physical bodies and isolated from the holy angels. R2171:4
Disobedient angels imprisoned in the days of Noah. OV17:3; SM192:3
Became mighty men – The father gives life, and the mother organism, as illustrated in the birth of Christ. E103
Men of renown – Intellectually strong, but morally perverted. SM547:1; R5160:2
Because of the vigor of their angelic fathers. E104
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| 5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. |
Evil continually – And progressively, proving the necessity of divine interposition if man is to be recovered. A71
Not merely from human depravity, but at the connivance of some of the angels. R5160:1
Man took pleasure in still further degrading himself instead of loathing his sinful condition and looking to God for relief. SM194:1; OV249:3; R2026:6
What a mercy that this condition should be brought completely to an end. SM62:3
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| 6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. |
Repented the LORD – The Lord changed his course of dealing, not his mind. The matter is so stated as to convey to the general reader as much as he is able to comprehend of God's reasons for changing his course. R2026:6
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| 7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. |
I will destroy – The world became so full of corruption that God destroyed all humanity, and began anew the propagation of the race from Noah and his family, who had remained untainted. R5910:1
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| 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. |
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| 9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. |
Perfect – Uncontaminated by the fallen angels and their influence. PD16/25; SM97:2, SM118:2; OV301:T, R4682:2, R5043:4; HG512:2
Noah's family was singled out as exceptional. PD16/ 25
In his generations – Toledaw, descent, family. R2844:2
Walked with God – Noah's faith in God was manifested in his building of the ark in obedience to the divine instructions. R4386:5
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| 10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. |
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| 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. |
Filled with violence – The new race was vicious, brutal and violent, as well as immoral. SM62:3
"As it was in the days of Noah" (Luke 17:26) so it is now. R3241:6*
Corporate giants will very shortly give mankind a great deal of trouble and will fill the earth with violence. R2844:4, R4797:5
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| 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. |
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| 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. |
I will destroy – The account of the fall of the angels from being sons of God to being demons helps us to understand why God decreed the flood. PD17/26
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| 14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. |
Rooms shalt thou make – The Chicago Tribune, Aug. 13, 1883, printed a dispatch from London stating that a paper at Constantinople reports Turkish commissioners as having discovered the ark protruding from a glacier on Mt. Ararat. The interior was found divided into partitions 15 feet high. R524:3
The oldest records of Babylonia tell the story of the deluge-of Noah and his ark. R5159:1
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| 15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. |
This is the fashion – A design which has been found in actual practice to yield the best results for safety and stowage. R3934:2, R3525:4
Length... 300 cubits – 547.3 feet, by sacred cubit of 21.88 inches. R3679:4*
Breadth... 50 cubits – 91.2 feet. R3679:4*
Height... 30 cubits – 54.72 feet. R3679:4*
These dimensions would give a capacity of 2,730,782 cubic feet, a tonnage of 81,052. R3679:4*, R3934:1; Q778:2
Approximately three or four times the capacity of the largest vessels now afloat (1901). R2843:1
Providing plenty of room for pairs of all the 244 species of animals scheduled by Buffon and all the supplies they would need on the voyage. R3336:2*
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| 16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. |
A window – An opening 20 inches high all around the ark under the eaves. R2843:2; Q778:2
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| 17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall expire. |
Flood of waters – God had already arranged that one of the aqueous "rings" still suspended above the earth should descend, causing the flood. R4682:1
The account of the deluge is not merely a Bible narrative, but Is** corroborated by the traditions of all races except the Black race. R1615:1, R3933:3*
Is the breath – Ruach, air, spirit, life-power, as in man. E174, E314
See comment on "Hath life" in Gen. 1:20.
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| 18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. |
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| 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. |
Bring into the ark – Type of Christ and the power in him which will replenish and reorganize society. A318
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| 20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. |
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| 21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. |
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| 22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. |
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